1952 — Oct 31, Cedar Grove Nursing Home Fire, Hillsboro, MO –18-20

–18-20 Blanchard estimated death toll.

Every newspaper account we read, searching though the month of December, noted 18 deaths (we cite from three of the many reviewed). We speculate that either the NFPA conflated the initial deaths reported (which was 16) and the two on the way to the hospital, as eighteen and two, rather than sixteen and two, or there were two deaths from injuries later – perhaps after December 31, or escaping our attempt to locate newspaper reports of later deaths. In that we have not located a listing of fatalities and see reporting of 18 as well as 20 deaths, we choose to resort to a range of 18-20 deaths.

–20 AP. “Some of the deadliest Nursing home fires in the US.” Local3news, Chattanooga. 12-2-2021.
–20 Bugbee. “Fire Protection Developments in 1952.” NFPA Quarterly, 46/3, Jan 1953, p. 168.
–20 NFPA. Deadliest fires in facilities for older adults since 1950. 2003.
–20 NFPA. “Summary of Fire Deaths in Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Homes for the Aged,” p.312.
–20 NFPA. “Twenty Patients Dead in Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly, 46/3, Jan 1953, p. 172.
–18 AP. “Bad Wiring Gets Blame for Fire Disaster.” The Daily Ardmoreite, OK. 11-2-1952, p1.
–18 Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, MO. “Defective Wiring is Cause of Tragic Fire,” 22-3-1952.
–18 INS. “18 Aged Die in Flames at Nursing Home.” Delphos Daily Herald, OH. 11-1-1952, p1.

Narrative Information

Bugbee/National Fire Protection Association: “Another disastrous fire involving considerable loss of life that took place in 1952 was the nursing home fire at Hillsboro, Mo. on October 31 in which 20 of some 70 aged and infirm patients lost their lives. The rapid growth in the number of old and large buildings of combustible construction with inadequate protection used for the housing of the aged and the infirm points up the need for a great deal more attention on the part of fire authorities to the protection of people in this occupancy.” (Bugbee, Percy, NFPA. “Fire Protection Developments in 1952.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 46, No. 3, Jan 1953, p. 168.)

National Fire Protection Association: “Combustible fiberboard appears to be an outstanding factor in the loss of twenty lives by fire in the Cedar Grove Nursing Home fire in Hillsboro, Missouri, on the afternoon of October 31, 1952. To be sure, the fire probably would not have started if the electrical installation had been made in accordance with the National Electrical Code, and the fire presumably would not have spread up the stairway if it had been enclosed in accordance with the NFPA Building Exits Code. The fact remains, however, that it was the fiberboard which ignited and spread fire too fast to permit rescue of trapped patients. We are not identifying the particular type of cellulose board involved; this is probably not important as insulating boards made from any one of a number of combustible materials can spread fire with great rapidity – often very much faster than ordinary wood.

“The Cedar Grove Nursing Home was located in Hillsboro, in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, just off Highway 21, abut 35 miles South and West of St. Louis….The walls were partly concrete block and partly wood frame; the interior was all wood joist.

“Fire started at about 5 p.m. at an electric light fixture on the wall of a first floor linen room. The light fixture was fastened to the ceiling without any outlet box; wires were run through homes in the fiberboard.

“A nurse on duty gave the alarm promptly, the local volunteer fire department responded without delay. However, the spread of fire and smoke was so rapid that of some 70 patients in the building, 20 were killed and 37 more were injured, requiring medical attention. The majority of the deaths apparently occurred in the attic, but we have no detailed report either of the exact number of patients in the building at the time or the location of the casualties….

“Providing adequate housing and nursing facilities for elderly and infirm persons is an increasing social problem. With a larger percentage of the population in the higher age group and ordinary dwellings and apartments becoming smaller because of the pressure of increasing costs, some place must be found for the elderly and infirm who require some suitable housing. Every humanitarian consideration would dictate requirements for nursing homes to provide complete fire safety similar to that recommended for hospitals and similar institutions. Any attempt to make such requirements for nursing homes, however, meets immediate opposition on the ground of cost. We are told that to provide buildings meeting modern safety fire requirements would be so expensive that in effect the elderly people who most need such care would be denied it.

“The natural result of municipal codes and ordinances requiring fire safety for nursing homes is to lead to the establishment of such institutions in rural or suburban locations often in converted private dwellings which can be acquired at moderate cost but which from the fire safety standpoint are totally unsuited to such occupancies. Away from the city the nursing home may be freed from the annoyance of fire safety laws and inspections by building officials, fire departments, electrical inspectors, etc. They are thus also remote from fire department protection of the type that is available in large cities. While rural fire departments make the most strenuous efforts to fulfill their responsibilities, that are often handicapped by lack of personnel and equipment, for example sometimes lacking adequate ladder facilities to make rescues from windows above the second story.

“An important factor in fire safety of any custodial institution is having sufficient personnel available to take care of the occupants in case of fire or other emergency. The greater the fire hazard of the building the more attendants are needed. In the case of the Cedar Grove Nursing Home there is no mention in our reports of the number of nurses or other attendants available for rescue work. All we know is that one nurse was present.

“We wonder if any qualified fire protection authority had before the fire talked with the management about the importance of fire safety measures or if perhaps the management’s only contact in such matters had been with the sanitary inspector who, according to newspaper reports, had visited the building a short time before the fire and had found no fire hazards. Had anyone recommended automatic sprinklers, suggested the desirability of some sort of a stairway enclosure or even explained how a coat of flameproofing paint would reduce the danger of the combustible fiberboard?” (National Fire Protection Association. “Twenty Patients Dead in Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 46, No. 3, Jan 1953, pp. 172-175.)

Newspapers

Nov 1, INS: “Hillsboro, Mo. INS – A roaring inferno left the Cedar Grove Nursing Home a charred shell today and 18 aged patients – many too feeble to move – perished in the flames. Some two dozen other persons, between 66 and 95 years old, were injured in the three-hour blaze Friday night at Hillsboro, 35 miles southeast of St. Louis. Two white-haired old women were carried from the flames. They died on the way to the St. Louis County hospital at nearby Clayton. Seven other women and nine men were trapped until the fire died down. Some possibly were unaware of the horror around them for firefighters said they heard no outcry.

“Swift flames, bottled within concrete walls, turned the three-story building into a bake oven where 55 of the institution’s most feeble patients slept.

“Firemen, who tried to break windows to spray water inside, said heat was so intense that panes became ‘flexible’ and pistol bullets failed to make a hole. Openings finally were made with shotgun blasts.

“More than half of the 37 survivors of the main building were invalids and had to be carried from the holocaust. One 81-year old woman was saying a Rosary when rescuers hoisted her from harm. She was partially blind.

“Some 50 other patients, housed in nearby cottages, escaped injury.

“Shirt-sleeved neighbors helped some 40 firefighters from four fire departments.

“James Lewis, manager of the institution, and his wife Peggy, live in a house 100 yards from the charred building. Lewis indicated faulty wiring caused the blaze, saying: ‘A nurse on duty told me an electric light wire in a ceiling began sparking and crackling on the hallway of the first floor.’ Lewis added that a county health officer told him that the 16 persons who died in the building apparently suffocated. Lewis also said that two who died en route to a hospital were on the critical list and their families had been notified before the fire that they were not expected to live.” (INS (International News Service). “18 Aged Die in Flames at Nursing Home.” Delphos Daily Herald, OH. 11-1-1952, p. 1.)

Nov 1, Associated Press: “Hillsboro, Mo., Nov. 1 (AP)….In Jefferson City, the Missouri Association of Licensed Nursing Homes adopted a resolution urging legislation for stricter inspection system of nursing homes. John N. Lashly, St. Louis attorney for the group, said the 18 deaths at the Cedar Grove Nursing Home ‘emphasized the need’ for more rigid state laws on operation of homes for the aged and infirm. He said the Cedar Grove home was not a member of this group.

“After a preliminary check with the Jefferson County Health Department, L. E. Ordelheide, state public health engineer, said ‘I don’t believe a full-scale state investigation is indicted.’ He said the home, while not fire-proof, was according to the licensing records adequately staffed and equipped with good fire protection equipment,, including fire escapes and extinguishers.

“Most of the dead were on the third floor of the stone and frame structure, but some were found on the floor below.

“At least 36 other residents of the home were reported injured in the blaze which spread quickly up stairways and along corridors as attendants worked to get the 85 residents to safety….

“…James Lewis, operator of the home, stood on his constitutional rights and refused to testify at the inquest.” (Associated Press. “Bad Wiring Gets Blame for Fire Disaster.” The Daily Ardmoreite, OK. 11-2-1952, pp. 1 and 6.)

Nov 3, Associated Press: “Hillsboro MO., Nov 3 (AP) – Defective wiring apparently caused the nursing home blaze in which 18 persons died, a Jefferson county coroner’s jury was told. Volunteer firemen testified at an inquest Saturday that the fire was believed to have started from wiring in a linen closet on the first floor of the three-story stone structure occupied by the Cedar Grove Nursing Home. Coroner John Long said the jury found 16 of the victims suffocated in the Friday night fire. Two others died in ambulances on the way to St. Louis County Hospital.” (Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, MO. “Defective Wiring is Cause of Tragic Fire,” 3 Nov 1952.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Bad Wiring Gets Blame for Fire Disaster.” The Daily Ardmoreite, OK. 11-2-1952, pp. 1 and 6. Accessed 6-2-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ardmore-daily-ardmoreite-nov-02-1952-p-1/

Associated Press. “Some of the deadliest Nursing home fires in the US.” Local3news, Chattanooga. 12-2-2021. Accessed 6-2-2023 at: https://www.local3news.com/some-of-the-deadliest-nursing-home-fires-in-the-us/article_e833519c-2aaf-5147-87c3-e19928860f92.html

Bugbee, Percy, National Fire Protection Association. “Fire Protection Developments in 1952.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 46, No. 3, Jan 1953, p. 168.

Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, MO. “Defective Wiring is Cause of Tragic Fire,” 3 Nov 1952. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=114396271&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=4

INS (International News Service). “18 Aged Die in Flames at Nursing Home.” Delphos Daily Herald, OH. 11-1-1952, p. 1. Accessed 6-2-2023 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/delphos-daily-herald-nov-01-1952-p-1/

National Fire Protection Association. Deadliest Fires in Facilities for Older Adults Since 1950. Accessed 1-22-2009 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=795&itemID=20732&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fact%20sheets/Nursing%20homes/Deadliest%20fires%20in%20facilities%20for%20older%20adults

National Fire Protection Association. “Summary of Fire Deaths in Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Homes for the Aged.” Pp. 311-313 in: United States Congress, House of Representatives. Boarding Home Fires: The Tip of the Iceberg (Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care, Select Committee on Aging, 96th Congress, First Session, April 25, 1979). Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979.

National Fire Protection Association. “Twenty Patients Dead in Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 46, No. 3, Jan 1953, pp. 172-175.